The White House released a memorandum on July 18, 2014 detailing budget priorities for science and technology in the fiscal year (FY) 2016 federal budget, which agencies are now developing. The annual memo from the Office of Management and Budget and Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) directs departments and agencies to prioritize certain areas of research in their budget submissions.

“In the FY 2016 Budget, agencies should balance priorities to ensure resources are adequately allocated for agency-specific, mission-driven research, including fundamental research, while focusing resources, where appropriate, on the following multi-agency research activities that cannot be addressed effectively by a single agency.”

Among the multi-agency priorities are climate change, earth observation, high-performance computing, and research and development for informed policy-making and management.

Notably, innovation in life sciences, biology, and neuroscience continues to be a priority.

“Agencies should give priority to programs that support fundamental biological discovery research that could generate unexpected, high-impact scientific and technological advances in health, energy, and food security,” stated the memo.

The Administration’s BRAIN Initiative and “National Bioeconomy Blueprint” are listed as sources for ideas for research initiatives in biology. Additionally, the White House would like to see greater emphasis on addressing antibiotic resistance.

Consistent with the White House budget memos released in recent years, the preservation of and access to scientific collections continues to be prioritized. OSTP released a memo in March 2014 on the management of federal scientific collections.